Half to george m



(No Model.)

. J. A. HAWTHORN.

PIPE WRENCH No. 596,505. Patented Jan. 4, 1898.

ms "cams ggrzns co. womumo WASHINGTON. a. c

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. HAWTHORN, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOGEORGE M. FRANKLIN AND GEORGE STEINMAN, OF SAME PLACE.

PIPE-WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 596,505, dated. January4, 1898.

- Apnlication filed September 30,1896. Serial No. 607,443. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. HAWTHORN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster and State ofPennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPipe-Wrenches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in pipe-wrenches of that classwhich is known to the trade as ratchet-wrenches, or in which when thehandle or lever is pressed downwardly a firm bite or grip is formed uponthe pipe in question, and when the handle or lever is raised said biteor grip is loosened.

The object of the invention is the production of a pipe-wrench that maybe readily applied to different sizes of pipes Within certain limits,performing its functions by alternately lifting and depressing thehandle or lever thereof, and of such sizes as to be applicable to pipesof any size from the smallest to the very largest.

The elements of the invention will separately and at large appear in thefollowing description and will be severally and collectively set forthin the claims.

The purposes of the invention are attained by the mechanism and'devicesillustrated in the accompanying drawings, similar reference-lettersdesignating like parts throughout the several views, and in which-Figure l is a side elevation of a pipe-wrenc embodying the elements ofthe invention, showing a pipe or tube loosely in place; Fig. 2, a topview of Fig. 1 with the pipe or tube omitted; Fig. 3, a similar view ofFig. 1 with the portions above the line a: 00 and the pipe removed, andFig. 4 a plan of the ratchet or grip-plate detached from Fig. 1.

A handle or lever-arm A of approved dimensions, provided with adownwardly and longitudinally projecting lug or finger a, has the endfitted into a prescribed recess or mortise formed in the rearward end ofa prescribed member A, being between the arms or ears a thereof andpivoted to said arms by a pin or bolt A so as to form a knuckle or kneejoint with said handle or lever-arm at this point, allowing a tilting orswinging motion -to the member A, with the finger a in contacting withits hump a acting as a stop to the farther downward progress of saidmember. At the forward or free end of the member A are two side arms orears 0. having between them a prescribed recess or mortise, into whichisfitted and pivoted to said arms by a pin or'bolt A the flattened end orhead of an upwardly-disposed screw A, turning freely outwardly orupwardly, as may be desired, and the upper portion of its shaft isprovided withscrew-threads a, by means of which a thumb-nut A may bescrewed up or down thereon, as may be required, while onto its body,through a suitable eye therein, is swiveled the forward end of a secondmember A, which end said screw is adapted to depress, and the memberitself, by reason ofthe pivot-joint of the screw on the pin A and byreason of said swivel-joint, is adapted to be swungbodily up and turnedsidewise either way when desired or required. In the rearward end ofthis member A is formed a vertical slot or end recess a engaged by theshaft of an upwardly-disposed screw A having its lower end or flattenedhead fitted in a prescribed slot or mortise a, formed in the lever'arm Ajust rearward of and adjacent to the knee or pivot joint first beforementioned and pivoted in place by a pin or bolt A adapted to be swunglongitudinally either way, or as indicated by the dotted line 1 in Fig.1,while its upperportion is provided with screw-threads a on which athumb-nut a in being screwed up or down thereon is adapted to depressthe rearward end of said member or to loosen the same.

At prescribed points in the adjacent faces of the members A and A and inprescribed angular cuts a therein are formed dovetailed recesses 66 a aa", into each of which is fitted a bite or grip plate or block B, beingheld-in place by said dovetails, but readily removable therefrom when sodesired, and in their in- -ner faces are formed transversely-disposedthe recesses into which they are fitted have level faces against whichtheir backs rest, the latter may be made concaved and the formerconforming therewith Without departing from the spirit of the invention,(see dotted curves 2 and 3, Fig. 1;) also, that the teeth may beomitted, as shown by the curves 3, when the wrench may be applied to afinished pipe without abradin g its smooth surface, and that the teethmay likewise be omitted when said blocks are flat or level.

The several parts hereinbefore described and occupying the positionsindicated in the drawings, with a pipe or tube 4 in place, as shown, aninspection thereof clearly shows, first, that when the outer end 5 ofthe handle A is raised the grip or bite of the teeth on the pipe will beloosened, the wrench turning backwardly, as a ratchet-wrench will turn,to a new position; second, that when the outer end -5 of said handle isdepressed, and by reason of the fulcra on the pins A A the kneejoint onthe pin A will bring the teeth 6 into close contact with the pipe ortube, forming a bite or grip thereon and causing said pipe to rotate orturn with the wrench, and, third, that said downward pressure on thehandle A will increase or augment the bite on the tube till the lug orfinger a shall contact with the hump a of the member A, reducing saidmember and arm practically to one continuous body and positivelystopping the crushing force of the bite upon said tube, preven ting allinjury thereto.

The invention having thus been described and the manner in which itperforms its functions duly set forth and shown, what is considered new,and desired to be secured byLetters Patent, is-

1. A tap-wrench comprising, a lever-arm or handle with a stop lug orfinger at one end thereof as shown, a member above said stoplug andhaving one end pivoted to the stoplug end of said arm, anupwardly-disposed screw with its lower end pivoted to the free end ofsaid member, a rearwardly and horizontally disposed member having oneend swiveled on said screw with a thumb-nut as shown on the threadedportion of said screw and a vertically-disposed slot in the other end ofsaid member, an upwardly-disposed screw with its shaft in saidvertically-disposed slot and having its lower end pivoted in a slotadjacent to the pivoted end of said lever-arm with a thu mb-nut on thethreaded portion of said screw; and grip-blocks as shown secured intothe adjacent faces of the said pivoted and swiveled members,substantially as described and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2; In a pipe-wrench in combination: the lever-arm A, with the stop-lug,a, and the ver-' tical pivot-recess near the forward end thereof; themember A, with the pivot-ears a, the hump a and the pivot-ears a and thepin A pivoting said members and lever-arm together; the upwardlydisposed screw, A with the screw-threads er, the thumb-nut A, thereon,and having its flattened lower end, between the ears, er with the pin, Apivoting said screw and ears together; the member A with one endswiveled onto the screw A as shown, and having the vertical slot, (1),in the other end thereof; the upwardly-disposed screw A in the slot ahaving its flattened lower ends in the mortise a of the lever, with thepin A pivoting said screw and lever together, and having thescrew-threads a with the thumb-nut A thereon; and the gripblocks, B,with the ratchet-teeth, 72, secured into the adjacent faces of the saidmembers, A and A all substantially as described and for the purposehereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I afi'ix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN A. HAWTHORN.

